HIVE's BUZZ Starts Building A Digital Superhighway for Eastern Canada's First Sovereign AI Factory

HIVE (TSXV: HIVE, NASDAQ: HIVE) through its BUZZ unit contracted a fibre optic network overbuild and carrier transport upgrade at the Grand Falls Data Centre in New Brunswick on May 8, 2026.

Rhea-AI Summary

HIVE (TSXV: HIVE, NASDAQ: HIVE) through its BUZZ unit contracted a fibre optic network overbuild and carrier transport upgrade at the Grand Falls Data Centre in New Brunswick on May 8, 2026.

HIVE plans approximately $3.1 million in capital over five years, aims to convert the site to a 50 MW Tier III+ AI factory, and expects dedicated 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps wavelength delivery beginning Q3 2026. Proceeds from a $115 million exchangeable note are being deployed toward GPU AI and Tier III HPC growth.

Positive

• Capital commitment of $3.1 million over five years
• 50 MW Tier III+ AI factory conversion target
• Dedicated multiple 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps wavelength services
• Site already energized at 70 MW gross load
• GPU cloud capacity planned to double to 11,000 GPUs

Negative

• Fibre delivery not expected until Q3 2026
• Additional capital required from carrier beyond HIVE's $3.1M
• Conversion timeline and customer traction not quantified

Argus May 8 session

-1.74% close to close Open Argus

Details

News Market Reaction – HIVE

On May 8, the day this news came out, HIVE closed 1.74% below the previous close.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus for the May 8 session.

Key Figures

Capital commitment: $3.1 million Exchangeable notes: $115 million Grand Falls power: 70 MW +5 more

Capital commitment

$3.1 million

Estimated spend over 5 years for Grand Falls fibre overbuild and network upgrade

Exchangeable notes

$115 million

Recent 0% exchangeable note issuance referenced as growth capital source

Grand Falls power

70 MW

Gross load already energized at Grand Falls data center campus

Planned AI factory load

50 MW

Target Tier III+ AI factory capacity at Grand Falls

GPU scale-up

5,500 to 11,000 GPUs

Planned doubling of GPU AI cloud offering during the year

Optical links

100 Gbps and 400 Gbps

Multiple dedicated high-capacity wavelength connections for Grand Falls

Expansion land

32 acres

Grand Falls campus expansion path cited for sovereign AI hub buildout

Campus power status

70 MW gross load

Buildings and core electrical infrastructure already in place

Previous AI Reports

5 past events · Latest: Mar 16

Same Type 5 events

1. Mar 16

   AI capacity expansion

   24h Move

   +4.5%

   Announced 4x BUZZ Canadian liquid-cooled AI data center capacity to 16.6 MW.

2. Mar 16

   AI capacity expansion

   24h Move

   +4.5%

   Detailed 16.6 MW total IT load and growth path to over 6,000 GPUs in Canada.

3. Mar 13

   AI collaboration

   24h Move

   +2.4%

   Strategic collaboration with AMC Robotics using BUZZ GPU AI Cloud for robotics.

4. Mar 13

   AI collaboration

   24h Move

   +2.4%

   Further details on AMC Robotics partnership for AI-driven robotics compute.

5. Feb 13

   AI cloud contracts

   24h Move

   +3.3%

   Signed about $30M AI cloud contracts and first phase of 504 liquid-cooled GPUs.

24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.

Key Terms

tier iii, gpu, sovereign ai, optical fibre, +3 more

7 terms

tier iii technical

"advance the HIVE New Brunswick campus to a Tier III HPC enabled data center."

Tier III is a label for the third level in a multi‑level ranking system used across industries to mark relative standing — often indicating lower priority, capacity, or quality compared with Tier I or II. Investors use it as a quick signal about expected revenue, cost, risk or regulatory demands for an asset, facility or customer segment; think of it like choosing a mid- or economy‑class option when comparing service levels or risk profiles.

gpu technical

"growth targets in GPU AI and Tier III HPC data center growth."

A GPU (graphics processing unit) is a specialized computer chip designed to handle many calculations at once, originally for rendering images and video but now widely used for tasks like artificial intelligence, data analysis and high-performance computing. Investors watch GPU demand and prices because strong sales often signal growth for chip makers and their customers, affect profit margins and capital spending, and can forecast wider trends in gaming, AI adoption and cloud services.

sovereign ai technical

"from a sovereign AI factoryVancouver, British Columbia"

An AI system described as "sovereign" is built, hosted, or operated under a country’s legal and technical control so that data, code, and decision-making stay within that jurisdiction. For investors, sovereign AI matters because it affects which vendors can sell to governments or regulated industries, imposes compliance and infrastructure costs, and can create protected local markets—similar to a factory that must follow a nation’s building codes and can only sell to certain buyers.

optical fibre technical

"To move intelligence at scale, Canada needs specialized optical fibre,"

A thin, flexible strand of glass or plastic that carries information as pulses of light, like a water pipe that moves data instead of water. Because optical fibre is the main technology that powers high-speed internet, phone networks and data centers, its installation, capacity and upgrades directly affect telecommunications companies’ revenue, infrastructure spending and the wider demand for digital services—key factors investors watch.

optical wavelength services technical

"upgrading Grand Falls with dedicated high-capacity optical wavelength services,"

Optical wavelength services are the leasing of a dedicated channel of light on a fiber-optic cable that carries large amounts of data between two points. Think of it as renting a private lane on a digital highway so a company can move lots of information quickly and reliably without sharing capacity with others. Investors care because these services command steady, often long-term revenue, support high-growth traffic from cloud and data-center users, and indicate a provider’s ability to scale bandwidth and maintain margins.

gbps technical

"including multiple 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps connections."

Gbps stands for gigabits per second, a measure of how much digital data can move through a network link each second. For investors, it’s a straightforward way to gauge a company’s ability to handle online traffic—like comparing highway lanes: higher Gbps means more cars (data) can flow with less congestion, which matters for telecoms, cloud providers and any business whose value depends on fast, reliable data transfer.

colocation technical

"expand our HPC colocation business as well by bringing 50 MW"

Colocation is the practice of placing a trader’s computer servers inside or next to an exchange’s data center so their orders travel the shortest possible distance to the exchange’s computers. For investors this matters because even tiny gains in speed can mean better trade prices or reduced slippage—like being first in line at a checkout—so firms that colocate can gain steady, measurable advantages or incur extra costs that affect returns.

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Private high-capacity wavelength services to Grand Falls - the connectivity moat that separates a powered campus from a sovereign AI factory

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 8, 2026) - HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: HIVE) (NASDAQ: HIVE) (FSE: YO0) (BVC: HIVECO) ("HIVE"), through its wholly owned subsidiary BUZZ High Performance Computing ("BUZZ"), today announced it has contracted a new fibre optic network overbuild and upgrade of the carrier transport network at its Grand Falls Data Centre in New Brunswick. This is a critical infrastructure step to advance the HIVE New Brunswick campus to a Tier III HPC enabled data center. The estimated capital commitment from HIVE will be approximately $3.1 million over 5 years (all amounts in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated).

Proceeds from HIVE's recent $115 million 0% exchangeable note issuance are being deployed towards reaching the Company's growth targets in GPU AI and Tier III HPC data center growth. The conversion of the New Brunswick is amongst the Company's targets this year, and this new fiber optic network marks an advancement in this goal.

Grand Falls is already energized at 70 MW gross load, with buildings and core electrical infrastructure in place. BUZZ is converting the site into a 50 MW Tier III+ AI factory designed for enterprise, government, and sovereign AI workloads.

To move intelligence at scale, Canada needs specialized optical fibre, and HIVE's BUZZ is partnered with Canada's largest carrier¹ to build this in New Brunswick.

In partnership with a Canadian carrier, BUZZ is upgrading Grand Falls with dedicated high-capacity optical wavelength services, including multiple 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps connections. Delivery is expected to begin in Q3 2026. The Canadian carrier will have substantial capital expenditures beyond HIVE's capital commitment, to complete the installation of these high-speed fiber connections.

"AI is the new industrial race," said Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman of HIVE and BUZZ. "Countries that build sovereign AI factories will raise their productivity and security through data sovereignty, ensuring data doesn't leave the countries borders, providing those nations greater data IQ. Countries that do not have their own sovereign AI infrastructure will depend on foreign infrastructure and thus rent intelligence from others."

Mr. Holmes added: "The fibre overbuild is the superhighway that moves that intelligence to customers. Power plus fibre plus GPUs equals an AI factory. New Brunswick has the chance to become one of Canada's most important AI infrastructure hubs. We are flourishing in the AI token economy, and our vision is to consume electrons and export tokens. The vision is to turn Canadian power into Canadian AI tokens of intelligence."

Aydin Kilic, President and CEO of HIVE, said: "Connectivity is a prerequisite of AI factory development. Power alone does not make a sovereign AI facility; the network that carries compute to customers is equally critical. By securing exclusive dedicated network capacity at Grand Falls, we are creating the infrastructure to service enterprise and sovereign AI customers with the redundancy and throughput the AI market demands. As our GPU AI cloud offering doubles in size this year from 5,500 GPUs to 11,000 GPUs, we are excited to expand our HPC colocation business as well by bringing 50 MW of Tier III HPC data center capacity online, to accelerate the growth of BUZZ."²

Craig Tavares, President and COO of BUZZ, said: "Grand Falls is being built for the sovereign AI strategy that Canada needs: Canadian-owned, Canadian-operated, secure, scalable, and designed for sensitive workloads on Canadian soil. With 70 MW of powered infrastructure, a 32-acre expansion path, Tier III design underway, and dedicated optical fibre capacity, BUZZ is preparing to bring one of Canada's largest sovereign AI campuses to market."

About HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd.

Founded in 2017, HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. is the first publicly listed company to mine digital assets powered by green energy. Today, HIVE builds and operates next-generation Tier I and Tier III data centres across Canada, Sweden, and Paraguay, serving both Bitcoin and high-performance computing clients. HIVE's twin-turbo engine — infrastructure driven by hashrate services and GPU-accelerated AI computing — delivers scalable, environmentally responsible solutions for the digital economy.

For more information, visit hivedigitaltech.com, or connect with us on:
X: https://x.com/HIVEDigitalTech
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HIVEDigitalTech
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hivedigitaltechnologies/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/hiveblockchain

On Behalf of HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd.
"Frank Holmes"
Executive Chairman

For further information, please contact:
Nathan Fast, Director of Marketing and Branding
Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman
Aydin Kilic, President & CEO
Tel: (604) 664-1078

About BUZZ

BUZZ High Performance Computing ("BUZZ"), a wholly owned subsidiary of HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: HIVE) and an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, delivers enterprise-grade cloud services and large-scale GPU clusters in vertically integrated data centres. Proudly Canadian, BUZZ is building sovereign AI factories while operating across 9 time zones and 3 continents. The platform supports a suite of managed services, including Kubernetes, Slurm, virtual machines, and bare-metal deployments optimized for AI, machine learning, and scientific workloads.

Headquartered in Canada with a global reach, BUZZ is one of the first and few Canadian sovereign AI platforms operating at scale. Since 2017, it has deployed supercomputing environments across Canada and the Nordics. Its AI Factories are powered entirely by renewable energy and engineered with ultra-low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) below 1.3, hosting thousands of industrial-grade GPUs across North America, South America, and Europe used for AI model training, fine-tuning, and inference.

Through its Green GPU initiative, BUZZ combines AI innovation with sustainability, offering localized expertise and global infrastructure.

Learn more at buzzhpc.ai
For further information, please contact:
Craig Tavares, BUZZ President and COO
Tel: (604) 664-1078

Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding: the development of the Grand Falls Data Centre as a sovereign AI facility; the fibre optic network overbuild and carrier transport network upgrade; anticipated delivery of multiple 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps wavelength services starting Q3 2026; the exclusive dedicated wavelength capacity arrangement with Bell Canada; air-gapped deployment capability; the potential to attract federal, sovereign, and allied government customers; anticipated demand in connection with Canada's northern defence and NORAD modernization commitments; the modular and sequenced buildout approach; revenue growth targets; and related future-oriented statements.

Forward-looking information is based on current management expectations, estimates, and assumptions, including that infrastructure will be deployed on expected timelines and within budget, that demand for AI computing will continue to grow, and that the Company will be able to execute on its Canadian AI infrastructure growth strategy. Known and unknown risks — including changes to deployment timelines, cost overruns, lower-than-anticipated demand, GPU procurement or network buildout delays, and the risk factors described in the Company's continuous disclosure documents available on SEDAR+ and EDGAR — may cause actual results to differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise such information except as required by law.

Supplemental Materials and Upcoming Communications

For important news and information, including investor presentations and timing of future investor conferences, visit the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, https://www.hivedigitaltechnologies.com/investors/, and its social media accounts. The Company uses its website and social media accounts as primary channels for disclosing key information to its investors, and as a means of disclosing material non-public information for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

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¹ https://www.hivedigitaltechnologies.com/news/buzz-high-performance-computing-partners-with-bell-canada-to-deliver-advanced-sovereign-nvidia-ai-infrastructure-for-canada/

² https://www.hivedigitaltechnologies.com/news/hives-buzz-hpc-expands-data-center-footprint-into-british-columbia-with-4-times-growth-in-liquid-cooled-ai-data-center-capacity/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/296613

FAQ

AI-generated questions and answers. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

What is HIVE announcing about the Grand Falls Data Centre (HIVE) on May 8, 2026?

HIVE announced a fibre overbuild and carrier transport upgrade for Grand Falls, advancing Tier III HPC conversion. According to company, the project supports dedicated 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps wavelengths and targets service delivery beginning Q3 2026.

How much will HIVE invest in the Grand Falls fibre and upgrade project (HIVE)?

HIVE estimates approximately $3.1 million in capital committed over five years for the Grand Falls network upgrade. According to company, that commitment is part of broader spending tied to GPU AI and Tier III data center growth.

What power and capacity targets did HIVE disclose for Grand Falls (HIVE)?

Grand Falls is energized at 70 MW gross load and planned as a 50 MW Tier III+ AI factory. According to company, the site also has a 32-acre expansion path and Tier III design underway.

When will the dedicated high-capacity optical services at Grand Falls begin (HIVE)?

Delivery of the dedicated wavelength services is expected to begin in Q3 2026. According to company, the carrier partnership includes substantial additional carrier capital to complete high-speed fiber installation.

How does this project relate to HIVE's GPU capacity goals (HIVE)?

HIVE plans to double its GPU cloud offering from 5,500 GPUs to 11,000 GPUs this year. According to company, increased network capacity and 50 MW of Tier III HPC capacity support that GPU expansion and colocation growth.

How is HIVE funding the Grand Falls upgrade and broader growth (HIVE)?

Proceeds from HIVE's recent $115 million 0% exchangeable note issuance are being deployed toward GPU AI and Tier III HPC data center growth. According to company, those proceeds help fund the Grand Falls conversion and related infrastructure.